Talk about shooting ourselves in the foot, yes, Arsenal still have the chance to get into the top four, but putting ourselves in that position is risky. It could blow straight back in our faces, I hope we fight every game we play from now on.
My discussion is about our strikers, this isn’t meant to bash them, this isn’t an article for anyone of you to rip into them. Rather it’s about the changes that has occurred. We all know PEA and Lacazette are tight buddies, so tight that one could question if they’re not meant to be together. (No cheeky dig intended). I think their friendship is now causing more harm than good. We figured if they both are tight buddies, it will help their fight easier, what we never expected or saw coming was the said relationship helping them become soft and lazier.
Aubameyang was scoring goals for fun, he averaged a goal per game during the earlier stage of the season. Knowing he would get straight to the bench because Emery would call on Lacazette. While his bro, Lacazette would perform and turn games around when he gets his chance. The concise decision was that they’re meant to be better because of the competition. Is that really the truth now? What we see each match day are players that are relaxed and playful. I was having a discussion with a fellow fan after the line-up came out, he was of the opinion that why is Emery leaving Aubameyang and Ozil on the bench? He came up with a good debate as to why they shouldn’t sit, and I simply had to shut him up easily by telling him this.
“What difference will it make if it’s PEA? Our strikers are both wasteful, Give PEA the chance and you won’t see him get involved in team play, he’s like playing with a man down, create ten chances for him, he’s likely to lose five out of those and score five, which is poor for a striker of his calibre. Give Lacazette the chance, he’ll bring hell to the defenders and sweat himself off, create ten chances for him, he’s likely to score three out of those and lose seven.”
He kept quiet because he realized I made a point. Two minutes into the game Lacazette got a clear chance to put us ahead, he wasted it. Later on Iwobi and Monreal created a fine chance for him, he wasted it, took that shot so poorly. This other guy I spoke to looked me in the face and smiled while pointing out what I said about both strikers. I wasn’t all that pumped up when PEA came on because I knew it meant the tired trio of Iwobi, Ramsey and Mhki will have to work their arses off to create chances for him and it’ll be like playing with a man down. Minutes into the game, Mhki set him up and he lost the ball lazily. I don’t even want to continue analysing up to the point where he took that penalty. A shot I was certain he would miss, and I am certain Xhaka would’ve scored.
So, our strikers despite carrying us all season, let us down when they were needed the most. Yes, they score goals, but it doesn’t require rocket science to figure out how wasteful they both are. I believe we all knew that, and it was disturbing. It got worse in the last three games before the NLD, even though they scored, the number of chances they squandered was unbelievable.
This is the endgame, let’s accept the truth and even though it sounds so stupid, these guys need competition. They’ve become so close that competition isn’t a word in their dictionary, they mess up almost every time knowing they would surely play, they’re aware of the fact Emery won’t call on anyone because he has no choice. A blind man will see that they’re both relaxed and they’ve been in a comfort zone somewhat. The best thing would be for Emery to create a bit of a bridge in between them.
Which brings me to Eddie Nketiah. Emery needs to give this boy a few chances, let our strikers know they can’t get all cocky and relaxed. To some of you I’m whining and I don’t say anything good, but like I said, even though it sounds stupid, the truth hurts. They need competition, the proof was there while Welbeck played, he was also scoring for fun, our attackers knew there wasn’t room for complacency. If they both mess up, Welbeck was coming for their spot, he was scoring goals and playing well until he got injured. Months later it was clear to both of them that if PEA plays today, Lacazette would play tomorrow. Their friendship has softened the competition that was supposed to be there. Welbeck is an important part of this team, since Welbeck will be leaving. Nketiah should be getting all the chances Welbeck could’ve gotten, I’m surprised Emery isn’t giving Nketiah the chances during the second half of some easy home games we played.
Eddie Nketiah should be able the warning sign to our strikers. We were calling for world class strikers, now we got two, but a year later both strikers that were meant to push each other and create competitions for each other are both best buddies and the relationship between them is a sweet playful one, not a competitive one. I’m gutted and disappointed, and I didn’t write this article because of the NLDalone, take into consideration all the chances they waste on the daily basis. Eddie should be getting game time in weak games from now on…
Eddie Hoyte